Baylor – Pittsburgh Steelers Blog & Forum – PlanetSteelers.comhttp://www.planetsteelers.com
Steelers Forum, News, Tweets, Draft Talk, Apparel, Tickets and much more.Fri, 02 Feb 2018 02:40:46 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.3BTSC 2012 Community Mock Draft Pick No. 32 — New York Giants Select Kendall Wright, WR, Baylorhttp://www.planetsteelers.com/btsc-2012-community-mock-draft-pick-no-32-new-york-giants-select-kendall-wright-wr-baylor/
Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:40:14 +0000http://www.planetsteelers.com/index.php/2012/04/26/btsc-2012-community-mock-draft-pick-no-32-new-york-giants-select-kendall-wright-wr-baylor/We are done and the 2012 BTSC Community Mock Draft is in the books! Pittsblitz56 did say he was working on it, but the agreed time came and went so I’m stepping in again here. Next up: the real thing at 8:00 pm EDT! By the way, take note of the cool little minute-long draft […]

We are done and the 2012 BTSC Community Mock Draft is in the books! Pittsblitz56 did say he was working on it, but the agreed time came and went so I’m stepping in again here. Next up: the real thing at 8:00 pm EDT!

By the way, take note of the cool little minute-long draft profiles from SBN NFL that are embedded with these picks. It’s been Michael Bean’s personal project to make these videos happen, and let us know what you think of them! -barnerburner-

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First off, I want to say that if VinnySteel had not decided to go for the triple-TE threat for the Patriots, Coby Fleener absolutely would’ve been the pick here. Right now the New York Giants have got a bunch of guys that seem like they could all be decent role players at the TE position, but Fleener would’ve instantly upgraded it and given them an ultra-athletic headliner that would’ve made everyone better.

But no harm, no foul that Vinny picked Fleener ahead of us. We can deal with it and look back at what is still on our draft board and what value stands out.

And as we look at it, one name is standing out right now…

With the 32nd pick in the 2012 BTSC Community Mock Draft, the New York Giants select Kendall Wright, WR, Baylor.

The Giants still need to get younger on their O-line, so someone like Peter Konz was briefly considered here. I also did momentarily consider adding even more strength to the Giants’ D-line and taking Chandler Jones, just for the fun of it. They did lose one of their starting CBs, Aaron Ross, in free agency, so Janoris Jenkins was also considered here. And Ross’s departure does leave a bigger void than Mario Manningham’s departure left at WR (the void that Wright would ostensibly be filling).

But Wright grades out as a better prospect than either Jenkins/Jones/Konz/or anyone else on the board right now.

Linebacker was the only position where I would’ve considered taking a 1st round-caliber prospect, even if he graded out lower than Wright. I know they traded with the Bengals to acquire Keith Rivers, and that could be all that they needed to shore up the position, but they literally had bums off the street playing there this past season (in late November, they pulled Chase Blackburn away from being a middle school substitute math teacher, but he repaid them by intercepting Tom Brady and being one of their Super Bowl heroes). Though as I wrote last year, with the talent that they’ve stockpiled on their D-line and in their secondary, they could go with bums off the street again at LB and it still may not matter.

]]>BTSC 2012 Community Mock Draft Pick No. 2 — Washington Redskins Select Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylorhttp://www.planetsteelers.com/btsc-2012-community-mock-draft-pick-no-2-washington-redskins-select-robert-griffin-iii-qb-baylor/
Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:40:04 +0000http://www.planetsteelers.com/index.php/2012/03/30/btsc-2012-community-mock-draft-pick-no-2-washington-redskins-select-robert-griffin-iii-qb-baylor/The second pick of the 2012 BTSC Community Mock Draft is in, and no real surprises so far. Many thanks to BlueLoneWolf for the timely pick and enjoyable writeup. Next up: Minnesota Vikings represented by crosby87. -barnerburner- ******************** With the second pick of the NFL draft, the Washington Redskins select Robert Griffin III from Baylor […]

The second pick of the 2012 BTSC Community Mock Draft is in, and no real surprises so far. Many thanks to BlueLoneWolf for the timely pick and enjoyable writeup. Next up: Minnesota Vikings represented by crosby87. -barnerburner-

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With the second pick of the NFL draft, the Washington Redskins select Robert Griffin III from Baylor University.

This is it. The last roundup.

Robert, we’re betting the farm on you. We are trading what is likely to be – but hopefully not – a top-ten pick next year and the year after that. Not to mention the second round pick this year, too. Cheers, gents. That’s the future. All of it, centered on one quarterback from a small Baptist school in Texas. This is near unprecedented. But it was not unexpected.

George, Hostetler, Brunell, Green, and Johnson were vagabonds or reclamation projects – and Johnson of course has a Super Bowl ring from Tampa of all places, and Gannon came close with the Raiders. Trent Green won a ring riding the pine while Kurt Warner Wally Pipped him, much like he got hurt with us. Green must have had frequent flier miles on ambulances, the poor guy. Brunell was shell-shocked and gun-shy by the time he was in Washington. Our memories of veteran quarterbacks are now further sullied by the bilking the Eagles putting on us for McNabb, who dirted more balls than I can count in his time in Washington. As for Grossman and Beck, which was the most awkward and miscast quarterback competition ever in the history of the NFL, we can only say that they were competing to see who was the least bad between the two of them. Shuler, Ramsey, and Campbell. First round draft picks that went nowhere for so many reasons. Shuler got beat out by Frerotte, which we should have seen coming after he held out of training camp. To Gus Frerotte’s credit, he made the Pro Bowl and had some guts-if not a whole lot of regard for his own head. But that was a seventh rounder beating out a number three overall pick. Patrick Ramsey got utterly shelled behind a bad offensive line, Steve Spurrier, and a lack of skill position players. And poor Jason Campbell; I feel sorry for the kid. Offensive coordinators playing musical chairs must have really screwed with his head. At least every year he threw more touchdowns than interceptions, but he really never got a true foothold in our nation’s capital and enough time with any one system to be markedly better than anyone else. I can only wonder what might have been. A slightly above average quarterback and a great defense got San Francisco to the NFC championship game this year.

But the biggest thing is that this is probably Mike Shanahan’s last hurrah; his last chance to succeed. The past two years have ‘offensive disaster’ written all over them – heck, he hasn’t even managed to do better than Jim Zorn in win-loss record. Granted, I still think the team is in better shape thanks to some decent drafting. Defensive upgrades are needed, certainly, but with our core, we’re relatively solid.

But offensive struggles are just mounting in complexity and severity. Running back is a three-headed monster of a question. Roy Helu, Tim Hightower, Evan Royster: A and B? B and C? A and C? All of the above? The wide receivers got an upgrade of sortes with Pierre Garçon and Josh Morgan, and hopefully Leonard Hankerson comes back after a promising start to his career. Santana Moss is still functional, if not stellar anymore. Chris Cooley’s a good tight end when healthy, and Fred Davis shows a lot of talent when he’s not getting suspended for smoking illicit substances. However, this unit seems like a collection of twos and threes with no clear number one. At least RGIII’s used to throwing to a lot of short, quick guys.

It’s what’s up front that I’m worried about. Will Montgomery’s an alright center, and Trent Williams is alright at left tackle. Kory Lichtensteiger is not something to write home to mother about, and Jammal Brown wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire at right tackle. And Chris Chester? Again, alright. I’m sick of saying ‘alright’ and ‘mediocre’. Mediocrity is giving up 41 sacks, which is about twice the number you want to see. I’d use the pick on Matt Kalil if he’d have someone worth blocking for. But we’re desperate here in DC, desperate enough that we’d pay a national mint for four measly draft spaces.

Griffin, as a football player, is spectacular. His intelligence is evident – I watched him break down that play with Steve Mariucci and if that is to be taken as fact, he knows what he’s talking about. Ken Starr, the president of Baylor, talked to him seriously about going into law school either immediately or after his career. As for football, his touch and accuracy on the deep ball is impeccable. Griffin’s athleticism is almost unmatched or exceeded at the position – we haven’t seen such a pure athletic talent at quarterback since Michael Vick. Who else at this position can run a 4.4 40 time? No one can doubt the gifts; no one can doubt the talent. There aren’t even any nagging character concerns – I can’t see Griffin pulling a Ryan Leaf and running off to Vegas with his signing bonus to play blackjack and get wrecked partying with friends. This past year was a tour-de-force as he torched almost every defense he played against. The TCU-Baylor shootout was one of the most memorable games of this past season, and it was one of the first games played. ‘Human highlight reel’ is overused as a cliché, but appropriate in this instance. Griffin can do it all. Accuracy. Arm Strength. Intelligence. Intangibles. Athleticism. Griffin’s a five-tool quarterback with the game tape to back up the reputation. Everything you’d want and everything the Redskins need. The athleticism helps him fit into the offense with all the quarter-rollouts, half-rollouts, and full rollouts in Kyle Shanahan’s system, along with the stretch running game that requires a quarterback to actually move. The only kind of rolling or moving Rex Grossman could do was downhill. The deep ball up the seam is an integral throw in the system, and Griffin can drop those in a hat. Grossman could drop them in the awaiting arm of a safety that was there when his receiver wasn’t.

So you see, Robert, you don’t have to worry about living up to high expectations: we expect failure because that’s all we’ve known. You’re not replacing a legend like Luck is in Indianapolis. You’re going to BE the legend. At least, we hope. We’ve got the future of a tired, jaded franchise that wants to live up to its storied past once more riding on it.